1680x1050 gaming: GT or GTS?

[chestnut]

Hey - getting a new card today - so need last minute advice asap :)

Pretty much want to play QW:ET, UT3, COD4, DiRT, HL2 and other new titles max'd out @ 1680x1050.

Options:
* Galaxy 8800gt @ $230 - awesome value.
* Evga 8800gt superclocked @ $330 - will I benefit with better o/c'ing @ $100 more?
* Sparkle 8800gts @ $330


I'm leaning towards the GT at this stage...such good value.

Cheers,

[xMrBunglex]

you'd actually benefit on some of those titles from a GTS, believe it or not. a GT will struggle with CoD4 at max settings. UT3 and ET:QW might also give it a hard time. i think a GTS is enough to max those games at your rez without frame lag though.

the only quesion is whether those extra settings are worth another $100 to you. a GT will work fine if you turn a few of the settings down a bit.

[Budwise]

my GT has no struggle pushing COD4 at all max settings at 1920X1200. I would choose what fits your budget cuz the difference between the 2 performance wise will be very small.

[xMrBunglex]

my GT has no struggle pushing COD4 at all max settings at 1920X1200. I would choose what fits your budget cuz the difference between the 2 performance wise will be very small.

i have a hard time believing that. i have friends with GT's and i personally don't think they cut the mustard with true max settings @ 1680x1050. no lag with max settings means 4xAA, 16xAF, all textures set to Extra, shadows on, depth of field and all the other goodies turned on. it also means your framerate should never go under 60 fps. an 8800GT cannot do that.

EDIT: here's a screenshot from a Tom's review. it doesn't have a GT in it, but it has a GTS, which has what many of us consider unacceptable frames even at 1680x1050. i personally demand an absolute minimum of 60 fps in all the online games i play. choppy frames get you killed.

http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/28/ati_r680_the_rage_fury_maxx_2/image008.png
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/28/ati_r680_the_rage_fury_maxx_2/page15.html

[AliG]

The difference between the gt and gts really is in the ocing ability, the extra shaders do make a small difference (more in the more demanding titles), but what really gives the gts the edge is how many oc far beyond 700 core no problem due to the higher bin (though that may change once the gtx is released as the best chips will be going there instead)

[chestnut]

Ended up getting an evga 8800gt sc - but faulty.

Got it out of the box and it had a bent d-bracket (had to bend back to straighten it), and once running, the fan is making a ticking sound as it's clipping something - really annoying.

@ 1680 and max'd out, Stalker kept crashing, but I thinks it's just the drivers crapping out. You start a new game, talk to the dude at the desk and the second you step outside it lags hard with the screen filling with white and pink corrupt crap. Also had some pink textures in a run of the cs:source stress test, but couldn't reproduce after that. Looping 3dmark06 for 2hrs seemed fine.

Anyways, I'm going to return it for the Sparkle 8800gts 512 - if they let me.

[bobbobson]

Well i could play CoD4 on Max on my 22" (1680x1050) with full aa and AF with my old 320mb GTS and it NEVER lagged once. So the GT should have no problem.

[sfdmalex]

i have a hard time believing that. i have friends with GT's and i personally don't think they cut the mustard with true max settings @ 1680x1050. no lag with max settings means 4xAA, 16xAF, all textures set to Extra, shadows on, depth of field and all the other goodies turned on. it also means your framerate should never go under 60 fps. an 8800GT cannot do that.



Mate my 8800GT with everything on Extra at 1680x1050 with 4AA 16AF runs COD4 at what feels like the speed of COD2.

[chestnut]

I ended up returning the evga GT - due to being faulty.

Got my Sparkle GTS - fingers crossed it clocks well.